Leaders of the state’s 55 prisons repeatedly heard two consistent messages from senior management and presenters during their meetings in Raleigh on March 12-13: You are the messenger in your facilities, and it is essential to communicate and listen to your staff.
“You run the facilities. You have the knowledge. That’s why you are there,” Director of Prisons Kenneth Lassiter told the group.
The Juvenile Justice Section recognized five of its general instructors earlier this month during an awards ceremony held during the Section’s annual General Instructors meeting.
Kimberly Quintus, Director of the Juvenile Jurisdiction Reinvestment Act, led the awards ceremony, and Deputy Secretary William Lassiter presented awards to the following individuals during the March 2 event:
2017 Juvenile Justice Instructor of the Year: LaTonya Middleton
Court Counselor, District 11 (Harnett, Lee, Johnston counties)
Loyal. Compassionate. Visionary. Those are just a few of the words friends and colleagues used to describe Scott Hunter, the longest-serving chief in the history of State Capitol Police.
Twenty-four men and women proudly took the oath of office as they became graduates of the first basic probation/parole officer training in 2018.
Family members, friends and trainers watched as Superior Court Judge Vince Rozier delivered the oath at a special ceremony held at the Office of Staff Development and Training Complex in Apex.
Community Corrections Director Tracy Lee was keynote speaker for the ceremony. He shared wisdom from his early career as a Probation/Parole Officer in Charlotte, North Carolina.
On Feb. 7-9, Interim Chief Deputy Secretary Reuben Young and Director of Prisons Kenneth Lassiter resumed their visits to the state’s prisons by heading west. The road swing took them to Lincoln Correctional Center, Alexander Correctional Institution, Caldwell CC, Avery/Mitchell CI, Mountain View CI, Marion CI, Foothills CI and Burke CRV.
Leadership from the State Highway Patrol, N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program and local communities gathered in Clayton on Friday for the launch of the “Survive the Drive” campaign to highlight the dangers of speeding and distracted driving on rural roads.
Although many collisions occur on interstates and highways, statistics show that most occur on secondary roads. In 2017, the State Highway Patrol responded to 48,789 collisions on secondary roads. Among those collisions, more than 14,000 involved personal injury and 383 resulted in one or more fatalities.
Governor Roy Cooper is making good on his promise to make North Carolina safer by helping people leaving the state’s prisons become productive members of their communities.
During the second meeting of the State Reentry Council Collaborative this week, Gov. Cooper unveiled the comprehensive action plan created by the Council to ensure the success of formerly incarcerated people after they’ve paid their debt to society and return to their communities.
According to the 18th century English poet Alfred Austin, “To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.” With that in mind, Juvenile Justice Health Services has initiated a unique partnership with N.C. State University’s Department of Horticultural Sciences to design and install sensory gardens within the recreation yards on two juvenile facilities in North Carolina.
Twenty-one high school-aged juveniles at Alexander Juvenile Detention Center recently competed in the center's annual gingerbread house competition. Nutrition Supervisor Beverly Cash coordinated the efforts by baking homemade gingerbread. Each student was given an unassembled gingerbread house, white frosting,assorted candies and 2.5 hours to create their masterpieces. Teacher John Hendrix primed the students' creativity by showing them a video of this year’s National Gingerbread House Competition held annually at the Omni-Grove Park Inn in Asheville.
The students and staff of two juvenile detention centers in North Carolina put their creative muscles to work to construct a sports-themed creation for the 2017 Made by Milk contest. The project encourages students to use their creativity, while learning to recycle by repurposing milk cartons. Instead of just throwing out trash, create something cool with it! Both facilities are past contest participants.